Care.com is a web site that gives quite a lot of companies, together with babysitting, senior care, pet care and extra.
You should use Care.com for each discovering and providing companies. However is it the correct platform for you?
On this Care.com evaluation, we’ll share how the location works, its charges, options and what present customers should say about their expertise with the service.
Abstract
Care.com is an organization that gives quite a lot of care companies equivalent to little one care, senior care, pet care, tutoring and housekeeping. The corporate works to match households with skilled and background checked native caregivers.
Execs
- In depth bios and background checks on caregivers
- Consumer-friendly web site
- Upgraded membership accessible
- Energetic dates listed to indicate lively caregivers
Cons
- Poor customer support scores
- No refunds on Premium memberships
- Restricted customer support choices
What’s Care.com?
Care.com is an organization that connects caregivers of all types with folks needing care. The corporate serves hundreds of thousands of consumers in over 17 nations world wide.
You will discover various kinds of caregiver assistance on the location, together with:
- Babysitters
- Senior care
- Pet care
- Housekeeping
- Daycare
- Tutoring
Caregivers can create a profile on Care.com that outlines their abilities, expertise and the value that they cost for his or her companies.
Then, individuals who want to rent a caregiver can search these profiles to discover a supplier.
The web site coordinates connections between households and caregivers whereas working to make sure security for all members.
Care.com connects caregivers who present numerous companies with individuals who want care. The positioning works in another way for purchasers and contractors.
Care.com for Households
If you wish to rent somebody that will help you with caring for a kid, grownup, pet otherwise you want one other kind of service, you begin by filling the prompts explaining what you want.
You have to to enter your e-mail handle to get entry to a listing of caregivers.
Caregiver profiles share details about the caregiver equivalent to:
- Identify, age and metropolis
- Whether or not they have transportation
- Smoker/non-smoker
- What first assist or CPR coaching they’ve
You can even study in the event that they’re comfy with pets and browse their bio to search out out extra details about them.
Notice that Care.com has each Primary and Premium accounts for households.
When you select a Primary account, you may:
- Put up jobs
- Search and think about profiles
- See who utilized on your jobs
- Ship automated “No thanks” messages to these you don’t wish to rent
When you register for a Premium account, you may:
- Contact caregivers immediately
- Request outcomes for all background checks
- View and customized reply to purposes
When you rent a caregiver, tutor or housekeeper, you’re instantly charged for the reserving. If the caregiver doesn’t present up or has to cancel, you’ll obtain a refund.
Within the occasion you must cancel the reserving, you received’t be charged in case you cancel a minimum of 24 hours earlier than the reserving time and date.
Nevertheless, in case you cost inside 24 hours of the reserving time and date, you’ll have to pay a cancellation charge.
Care.com for Caregivers
If you wish to be a caregiver on Care.com, you merely have to arrange an account and create a profile.
As with households, caregivers can select a Primary account or a Premium account.
With Primary accounts, you may carry out duties equivalent to:
- Making a profile
- Responding to Premium members’ messages
- Looking for and making use of to jobs
- Getting paid securely
- Customizing your profile
When you go for a Premium account as a caregiver, you additionally get the next options:
- Rank larger in search outcomes
- Get a Premium badge in your bio web page
- Precedence job alerts
- Waived CareCheck charge
- See who’s considered your profile
And different options. Whereas it doesn’t seem many caregivers go for the Premium membership, it may very well be a great way to market your self and get extra jobs.
As talked about above, Care.com has Primary and Premium memberships for each households and for caregivers.
Household Memberships
Household memberships have a Primary membership and a Premium membership.
The memberships provided embody:
- Primary membership: No cost
- Premium membership: $39 per 30 days, $78 for 3 months or $156 for 12 months
You’ll save considerably in case you purchase in bulk. As a Premium member of the family, you’ll get the power to privately message caregivers.
You’ll additionally get entry to all background checks. There are different advantages to changing into a Premium member of the family as nicely. See the Care.com web site for particulars.
Caregiver Memberships
Caregivers and others who wish to construct a profile on Care.com with a view to discover a technique to earn cash whereas serving to others have two choices.
The membership decisions embody:
- Primary membership: No cost
- Premium membership: $20 per 30 days
A Premium membership will get you ranked larger within the listings when individuals are trying to find caregivers.
You’ll additionally get precedence job alerts and be capable of see who’s viewing your profile.
Key Options
Care.com does its finest to include many necessary options into its web site. Listed here are a few of the key options of the corporate.
Huge Number of Companies
Care.com was created solely to concentrate on serving to dad and mom discover caregivers for his or her youngsters. They rapidly added elder care to their listing of companies after they launched.
At this time, Care.com affords these companies and extra, together with housekeeping, pet care, tutoring and extra.
See the Care.com web site for extra info on the entire companies they provide.
Complete Bios
Every caregiver biography shares necessary details about the caregiver you’re contemplating hiring.
You’ll be capable of see a brief bio, their certifications (equivalent to CPR), hours accessible, the place they stay, their expertise and extra.
When you’re a Premium member of the family, you’ll be capable of get background examine info and different tidbits.
Security Options
Care.com places a number of necessary security options in place, each for caregivers and for households.
First, all caregivers are topic to a CareCheck. That is Care.com’s fundamental safety examine.
The CareCheck consists of:
- Social Safety quantity hint
- Nationwide Intercourse Offender public web site search
- Multi-jurisdictional legal database search
- Federal and county legal information search
As a member of the family, you may as well buy further safety checks like a motorcar information examine and an Investigative Legal Plus examine.
The positioning doesn’t have fairly the identical security stopgaps for holding caregivers secure, however it does share complete info on how one can keep secure as a caregiver.
Academic Weblog
Care.com additionally has a weblog that shares a bunch of informative articles for each relations and caregivers.
The weblog comprises articles on subjects equivalent to:
- Parenting
- Balancing work and parenthood
- Find out how to run a enterprise as a caregiver
- Household-friendly firms
- Worker advantages
And extra. Free instructional instruments are all the time a plus whenever you’re working with an organization.
Price Calculators
Care.com encompasses a fee calculator. It could show you how to resolve what it is best to pay your sitter based mostly on what others in your space are paying.
You merely enter details into the calculator, together with your zip code and the variety of years of expertise you’d like your caregiver to have.
You’ll additionally embody the variety of youngsters the sitter shall be watching, in addition to what number of hours per week they’ll work.
Utilizing the calculator may give you a greater concept of what it is best to pay as a household needing a caregiver.
It could additionally show you how to decide your charges in case you signal as much as be a caregiver on the location.
Buyer Critiques
Earlier than you join Care.com, it may very well be useful to listen to what different customers should say concerning the platform.
Firm | Score | Critiques |
Trustpilot | 1.1 | 2,000 |
Apple | 4.3 | 16,200 |
Google Play | 3.4 | 8,400 |
The Higher Enterprise Bureau (BBB) charges Care.com a “B,” and customers gave the corporate a 1.03 out of 5 star ranking. Care.com just isn’t accredited with the BBB.
There have been over 700 closed complaints within the final three years. The vast majority of the complaints pertained to poor customer support points.
Listed here are a pair opinions about Care.com:
“Discovered a terrific nanny for my 4 yr previous and 1 yr previous throughout this COVID-19 insanity. She’s been a god-sent to our household. On-line expertise interviewing a number of different candidates was easy and simple as nicely.” – Melissa Walsh Hohenberger
“The web site is VERY exhausting to navigate. No private assist. Contacted by way of e-mail twice and by no means bought again to me. No telephone quantity leads you to an individual. No clarification to the best way to publish your companies.” – Barbara Jackson Darnell
Alternate options To Care.com
If the dangerous opinions are main you away from Care.com, you may wish to take into account certainly one of these options.
UrbanSitter
UrbanSitter works equally to Care.com. You will discover babysitters, elder care sitters, tutors, family assist and extra on UrbanSitter.
Costs and options for UrbanSitter are similar to Care.com, though UrbanSitter is barely cheaper.
The one distinction you could discover between the 2 is that UrbanSitter has larger opinions. Whereas nonetheless not nice, they’re rated 2.9 out of 5 stars with Trustpilot.
The corporate does have an “F” ranking with the Higher Enterprise Bureau. Nevertheless, there are solely 11 complaints on the location.
GreatAuPair
GreatAuPair is one other web site that works equally to Care.com. They provide companies for elder care, babysitting, tutoring, pet care and extra.
Their costs are barely larger than Care.com, however they do provide reductions whenever you purchase in bulk.
The corporate is listed on Trustpilot and has a ranking of three.3 out of 5. They’ve an A+ ranking with the Higher Enterprise Bureau.
Sitter Metropolis
Like UrbanSitter and GreatAuPair, Sittercity affords related companies to Care.com. They supply babysitting, senior care, pet care, tutoring and extra.
Pricing for Sittercity is cheaper than the opposite choices talked about right here. Sittercity is listed on Trustpilot however doesn’t have any opinions as of this writing.
The corporate is rated “A+” on the Higher Enterprise Bureau web site and has slightly below 50 closed complaints within the final three years.
FAQ
In case you are nonetheless on the fence about Care.com, these ceaselessly requested questions may be capable of assist.
The one possibility for customer support on Care.com is a contact field that permits you to e-mail them or chat with them. There aren’t any telephone numbers proven on the location.
Care.com doesn’t provide refunds on its Premium memberships. As an alternative, your membership will stay lively for nonetheless many months you paid for.
The corporate’s primary suggestion for holding caregivers secure is to encourage them to schedule a video convention name with the household earlier than working for them.
This helps caregivers to get a really feel for the household and see if the household dynamics are proper for them.
Care.com does background checks on all caregivers, together with a Nationwide Intercourse Offender Registry examine.
As with caregivers, Care.com encourages households to do video convention interviews with caregivers earlier than they meet in particular person.
Abstract
Care.com will be an effective way to search out companies for your loved ones, like babysitters, senior care, tutoring, housekeeping and extra.
The excellent profiles are useful, and every profile tells when a caregiver was final lively on the location in order that households can select caregivers who’re at present trying to find work.
Care.com may provide an effective way so that you can make extra money on the side in case you’re keen on working as a caregiver.
Simply do not forget that, as with every web site, it is best to ensure you know what you’re signing up for and comply with the protection suggestions.